A Centaur, A Knife, and A Family
by likeitsivylikemmkay
Summary: Alexander Taylor  Xander  doesn't remember how he ended up being chased by a empousa. He needs help and odesn't know where to find it, but it knows how to find him. This is a Percy Jackson and the Olypians fanfic and needs your eyes. Enjoy.
1. A Boy with a FlyingHorse

**I do not own any of these characters. I do not own any PJO. I hope you all enjoy my story:D:D:D**

**Chapter One  
****A Boy with a Flying-Horse**

I made a turn down the alley. It was no better than the street; at least the street had lights. But I continued to run. Actually, it was more of a hop/skip/run since I sprained my ankle, but still, I was moving.

I turned my head to look behind me to see if it had found me again. I had never seen something so terrifying and ugly before. What ever it was had red eyes that almost glowed, completely white skin, and fangs. The worst part about her was her legs: one bronze and the other one was a donkey's.

I turned back around for a moment and then turned it back around. I could see her eyes now. Getting brighter and brighter the longer I watched her.

"Get back here, my dear demigod. I am hungry," she said, giggling.

I turned my head back around _Demi-what?_ I asked myself. I just kept on running. I stopped at a dead end.

It was a wire fence. I looked back and saw she had gotten closer. I started climbing. It was useless. My ankle was in no condition to be climbing a fence. I fell back to the ground. I turned around and leaned against the fence. I lowered myself to the ground. I had no idea how I got into this position. I didn't remember a thing about how I got into this position. One second I was at home in my bed and then the next I was out on the street getting chased by this thing.

She came into view. I saw her body all over again. I turned my face away from her. "Dinner time," she said.

I closed my eyes shut and clenched my jaw, waiting for the kill. It didn't come. I turned my head and slowly opened my eyes. Whatever it was was gone. What took its place now was a pile of yellowish dust, and in front of it stood a kid. He stood with his back to me.

I slowly began to raise myself off of the ground. I swallowed. "I…I…Is it dead?" I asked hesitantly.

The guy turned around. "Yeah, kid. She's dead." My eyes looked down at the pile of dust. He looked down at it and then back up at me. "Let's go, kid," he said. He began walking back down the alley. When he noticed I wasn't following him he turned back around. "I said com' on. Let's go before the other ones find out they lost one," he told me.

"I can't walk that well. I sprained my ankle," I explained. He 'oh'ed in realization. He walked back over to me and wrapped one of my arms around his neck and then began walking with me back down the alley.

"What's your name kid?" he asked me.

"Alexander Taylor. But everyone calls me Xander." I told him. I had no idea why I told him this stuff. My mother told me to never talk to strangers (well, who's mother hasn't).

"Okay Xander. My name is Gabriel. But everyone calls me Crater." He told me, the corner of his mouth turning up the slightest bit in a smile. We turned onto the street at this point. It was deserted. The only people on the street at this point in the night were the gangs and homeless people.

We made our way down the street and turned into an abandoned parking lot. Well, it wasn't completely abandoned anymore. There was something in the middle of it. It looked like a horse, but not. It had things attached to it that looked like wings. _God Xander. You're just tired. _I thought, but the closer we got to it, the more it seemed like it had wings.

Once we got over to the horse-with-wings-thingy, Crater stopped. "Down," he said and the thing lowered itself to the ground. Crater looked and me. "Get on," he said and I did. He helped me lift my leg over the thing and then he got on himself. He sat in front of me. "Okay Kilo. Take us home." And then we were in the sky.

The wind nipped at my skin as we sailed through the sky. I turned my head sideways and squeezed my eyes closed. I hated heights and anything that reminded me of roller coasters. This took part in both of those categories.

"If you could just drop me off at home, I would fully appreciate it," I suggested. Crater shook his head.

"Can't. Chiron wanted me to bring you back immediately," he told me.

_Chiron?_

As you can tell, I didn't really understand what was happening, so you should understand why all of this confused me. When we finally landed, we were in the middle of the woods.

I got off of Kilo before we were even on the ground. It just felt so good to be on the ground again. I felt my energy go up some.

Crater got off of Kilo, and gave him something. Sugar cube maybe? He turned to look at me. "Let's go Xander," he said.

"Go where?"

"To meet the Camp Half Blood camp director and activities director, Mr. D and Chiron," he told me before placing his hand on my back and pushing me forward.


	2. I Go to a Camp for the Different

**Here is the next chapter to the story. You know what? I love the name Crate. I may just have to name one of my children that. Hmmm. *ponders***

**Chapter Two  
****I Go to a Camp for the Different**

Crater didn't have to take me far. We only took about seven steps and we were at the building.

Crater's hands left my back and he walked up to the door. He knocked three times and then came back to stand next to me. When the door opened, a man stepped out. He had a chubby face, curly hair, and bloodshot eyes. He wore one of those ugly Hawaiian shirts. If you looked down at his feet, you would see purple running shoes. "Is this him?" he asked. He had the voice of an unhappy grandfather (don't ask me why).

"Ya…yes sir," Crater said. I looked at Crater and saw his hesitance. I could barely make out the quivering of his bottom lip. I turned my head to look back at the man.

The man looked at me and then sighed. "Well come on in. Crater, you may go back to doing whatever it is you kids do these days," he said. He turned and began walking back into the building. I looked at Crater. Crater looked at me. He nodded is head towards the door. I turned back and walked inside the building.

Inside, I looked around. I saw the old man out behind the house. I walked through the house, looking all around it. I walked out the back door onto a porch. The old man was now sitting at a small table playing a game of cards with a… horse?

I walked around to the table and got a better look of the thing. It had the torso and up of a man and the rest of him was a horse. It was a centaur. I looked at the man in awe. Amazed by what I saw. I reached my hand out to touch it but he moved.

"Please do not touch me, young one," the man spoke. He looked down at me and smiled. "Hello. I am the activities director here at Camp Half-Blood. My name is Chiron," he told me. He held out one of his hands for me to shake. I took it hesitantly.

His name rang a bell in my head. I just couldn't remember why I couldn't remember. I released his hand and then looked at the man. The man looked at the cup and touched it. It filled with a liquid substance. He picked it up and took a drink.

He sat it back down and then looked up at me. "What do you want Alexander Taylor?" he asked. I froze. I never told him my name. He seemed pleased by this. He smiled. "Ah. You didn't think I knew your name now did you? I know you name boy," he told me.

"This is Dionysus. But the campers call him Mr. D. He is the camp director," Chiron told me.

That name was familiar to me. I looked at Chiron. "But I never signed up for a summer camp! I have school tomorrow. And I bet my mom is freaking out by now," I told him. Mr. D sighed.

"Your mom knows you here boy. We have already made contact with her," he told me.

"What about school? I have to go to school! I have a chemistry test tomorrow," I told him. And with that, I jumped off the porch. I walked around to the front of the place and began walking away. I walked towards the woods, not knowing where else to go.

I took off sprinting, not looking back. I kept on running for 15 minutes. I stopped once I got to a river. I bent down and filled my hands with some water and then held it up to my mouth, drinking it. I then splashed some on my face. I placed my hands on my knees and took in a deep breath. All I wanted was to get out of this place and go home. I stood back up and jumped over the river.

I continued by walking for a few more minutes until I came to a rock. The sun was barely up giving off a small amount of light. By the amount of light, I could tell the rock was in the shape of a fist. I sat down and leaned back against it. I titled my head back to look up at the sky.

I just wanted to go home. I just wanted to go home. "Hello?" someone asked.

I looked in the direction of the sound. I could make out the figure of a human but nothing else. "Hello?" I repeated.

They walked out into the little light there was. "My name is Percy. We have been looking for you Alexander," he told me. His hair was as dark as the sky and was about 5'10 with an athletic build. He had a sword in one of his hands. He clicked the end of it and it turned into a pin. He slipped it into his back pocket. He began walking towards me. He made it all the way towards me and sat down next to me on the ground.

"Why'd you run?" he asked me. I turned my head to look at him. He was close enough for me to see his eye color: sea green. I looked down at my hands and then up at the sky.

"I don't want any of this. I just want to go back home and go back to sleep. I can't remember how I got onto the street. I know I have heard the names Chiron and Dionysus before but I can't remember from where," I told him.

"It's alright Alexander. We will help you. That's what this place is all about. It's about helping out young demigods and getting them ready for the world outside of this camp. We will help you remember. We are gonna help you out Alexander," Percy told me. I looked up at him.

"But I don't belong here. I know I don't. I'm different than the rest of these guys." I told him. I know people say that all the time, but I knew I was different than the rest of them.

"Well, this is a camp for the different," Percy said.


	3. My Cabin Mates, Travis and Connor

**Chapter Three**

**My Cabin Mates, Travis and Connor**

Percy and I walked out of the trees together. The sun was already up, making the time somewhere around 8am. Chiron stood in the middle of the camp. Beside him was a little eight-year-old girl tending to the fire.

Percy walked up to Chiron and said something to him too low for me to hear. When he pulled back, Percy gave me a reassuring smile. I walked up to them at that part.

"Good morning, Alexander," Chiron said.

I nodded my head towards him. I didn't look up from the floor. Percy nudged my arm. I looked up at him and then up at Chiron. "Good morning," I told him.

Chiron looked at Percy. "Will you please take Alexander to his cabin? He hasn't been claimed yet, so you know where to take him." Chiron said. Percy nodded his head towards Chiron and then at the eight-year-old girl. She smiled at him, the fire reflecting in her eyes.

"Alexander," Percy said. I turned and began following him.

"Where are we going?" I asked him as we walked. He started walking in the direction of a ton of cabins. Everyone was designed differently and were surrounding a campfire in the middle.

"I am taking you to your cabin," Percy told me.

"Where's that?" I asked.

Percy looked up at me and smiled. "You will be staying in the Hermes cabin. Hermes is the god of thieves as well as travelers, so when a demigod comes into camp that hasn't been claimed yet, lives in the Hermes cabin. How old are you, by the way?" he asked me.

"I'm 14. I turned 14 on the 14th," I told him. I don't know how I knew it, I just did.

"The gods have been trying to claim their children by the age of 13, but I kind of expected some of them would start slacking off after a while." Percy said. When Percy talked about the gods and everything, it sort of got my brain working on finding where I knew this stuff from.

We came to a stop at a cabin. The cabin was old and worn looking. It had dull brown paint that was chipped off and it had a caduceus overhanging the door. Percy opened up the cabin door and walked in. I walked in behind him.

I looked around. It had extra sleeping bags and blankets piled up in the corner. There were kids in all of the bunks except for three. Two guys walked out of the bathroom with towels around their waists. They looked over at us and smiled. "What's up Jackson?" one of them asked.

It was obvious they were twins. They both were tall and skinny with a mop of curly brown hair that hung over their eyes. They had upturned eyebrows and a sarcastic smile. The only difference between them was that the one that spoke was a little shorter than the other. "Hey Connor. Travis," Percy said nodding towards the other. They looked at me. Percy turned and introduced me.

"Guys, this is your new cabin mate, Alexander Taylor," Percy said. Connor and Travis smiled at me and nodded their heads. "I will take him to breakfast this morning and show him around until lunch, and then y'all will take him." Percy said.

"You got it Jackson." Connor said. He turned around and went back into the bathroom. Percy and I turned to walk out. When we were a few feet away from the cabin Travis called our names. We turned around to see what he wanted.

"Annabeth said she wanted to meet him. She wanted to help," he said. Percy smiled at him before turning back around. I followed after him again.

"Who's Annabeth?" I asked of him. Percy turned his head to look at me.

"My girlfriend. She's a daughter of Athena, the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy. She is probably in the gym practicing even though she doesn't need it," Percy said. The way he described Annabeth told me a lot more about him than about her.


	4. I Almost Touch a Dead Guy On Purpose

A Centaur, A Knife, and A Family

Chapter Four

I Almost Touch a Dead Guy…On Purpose

**I Almost Touch a Dead Guy…On Purpose**

Percy and I began walking towards the gym. I decided I would look around as we walked. We passed by a basketball court with some kids playing on it. The kids were big and skinny and were drenched with sweat.

We passed by the stables that held the flying-horses. They were out of the stalls and were being groomed by very gorgeous girls. One of them caught me staring and smiled at me. I gave her a small smile back.

When I spotted the building, I saw some kids with arrows. They stood in a line with their bows and had the arrow pulled back. When they released, the arrows hit bull's eye on every target.

We walked into the swordplay arena. I looked around it. There was a group of kids in the middle of a sword fight. People stood around them egging them on. I waned to go over there and break them up, but Percy went in the opposite direction.

We walked towards the back left corner of the arena toward a girl. She had blond hair that was pulled back into a pony tail. She stood facing one of the targets with a knife in her hand. She held it up and was about to throw it when Percy grabbed her from around her waist. The knife flew out of her hand and hit something making a clanking noise. The girl turned around to see who did it. She smiled once she saw Percy.

"Percy!" she cried wrapping her arms around his neck. Percy wrapped his around her waist and picked her up. He twirled once and then sat her back down. They stayed in that position for a moment. I looked away, feeling in an awkward situation.

"Hey," Percy said. I looked up at him and the girl. "This is Annabeth," he told me pointing towards Annabeth with his free hand. His other one was holding onto Annabeth's. "Annabeth, this is Alexander Taylor. A new camper." Percy introduced.

She smiled and stuck out her free hand. "It's nice to meet you, Alexander." She told me.

I shook hers as I said, "Its Xander." She dropped my hand and looked at Percy. They shared a look before she looked back at me.

"I'm gonna help Percy with the tour. Okay?" she asked me. I nodded. We walked out of the arena and back outside. They started towards the stables. "Is you parent a god or goddess?" Annabeth asked me. I looked up at her. I looked up at her and shrugged. He laughed a little. "What do you mean you don't know? When you were growing up, did you have only a mom or only a dad?" she asked. I shrugged again. She took me seriously this time. "Oh," was all she had to say.

They gave me a complete tour of the camp. My personal favorite part of it was the archery field. Although I didn't get to try it out, I was able to watch for a little.

By the time the tour ended up back at the Hermes cabin, it was lunch time.  
I wasn't hungry so I decided to stay back and get situated. Connor and Travis told me that I got Luke Castellan's old bunk. When I asked what happened to him, they told me that it was a sore subject on all of the campers and the best way to find out would be from Chiron, Percy and maybe Annabeth. I dropped it.

I laid back on the bed with one of my hands behind my head and the other one on my stomach. I closed my eyes and soon fell asleep.

In my dream, I was about three or four. I stood next to an adult as I watched what was happening in front of me. In front of me was a coffin. A priest stood behind it and was speaking. I probably could understand it but I wasn't listening. All of my attention was focused on the coffin. Something drew me to it. I don't know what it was, but it was there.

I found myself walking towards the coffin. I opened it up and peered in. Inside of it was a familiar man. He had brown hair that looked like it had been cut with a knife and scratches all over his face and hands. They man's eyes were closed and his mouth was shut. I reached my hand out to touch his face but something swooped me up.

The next thing I knew was that I was being carried away in the arms of a man. He wasn't my father and I had never met him before. I started screaming and crying but no one turned to look at us. No one tried to stop him. He took me around to the back of a building and sat me down on a crate. He began pacing back and forth talking to himself.

I couldn't really focus on him since I had been crying. He stopped though, at some point, and turned to look at me. He walked over to me and held me in a cradling style. I had stopped crying at this point and could make out his features. He had curly brown hair and had the face of a seventeen-year-old. He had had that outdoorsy look going on and Caucasian skin. His legs were kind of positioned funny though. He let a little smile slip through his lips. He caught himself but it was too late, I began moving away from him. He reached out trying to grab me, but I was too far away. He yelled in furry causing everything to go black.


End file.
